Material-handling apparatus



Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,240

C. A. SCHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Fi led Jan. 10. 1924 9 tgsjlqgq 1- Jan. 17-, 1928.--

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. c. A. scHuBERT' MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10, 1924 9 sn ets slgeet 3, 1' l Jan. 17, 1928.

. C. A. ECHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10, 1924 6 Min...

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Jan. 17, 1928.. 1,656,240

c. A. SCHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10. 1924 Jan. 17, 1928. I 1,656,240

C. A. SCHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10, 1924 I 1220672227 1 Clarencpj 6mm;

Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,240

C. A. SCHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10. 192 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 CJar'eragej? w f {WWW Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,240

a. A, $CHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Fiaed Jan. 10, 1924 9 S, .et; am 8 ARQ Jan. 17, 1928.

C. A. SCHUBERT MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS 9 Shpgtkl Filed Jan. 10. 1924 Patented Jan. 17, 1928;. j

TENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE A? SCHUBERT, or FINDLAY, OHIO.

I MATERIAL-HANDLING APPARATUS.

Application" filed January 10, 1924. Serial No. 685,343.

While this apparatus is designed primarily for the handling of coal, 1t 15 also adaptable for the handling of various other materials such as ore, gravel, sand and the,

like. Also while it is shown as being used for the hoisting of fragmentary materials, nearly directly upwardly, it will be understood that it may be usedhorizontally or at intermediate angles. I, therefore, do not wish to 'be limited to the specific structure or use illustrated in the accompanying drawings which are to be understood as suggestive only and which show a preferredenr bodiment of my invention. a i

Among the various objects of my invention are toprovide eflicient apparatus of the 1 character stated; to provide easilyoperated mechanism of the character described; to produce a device by which fragmentary materials may beetficiently handled; toim-f bination, construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and, while I have shown therein a prcl errcd embodiment of my invention, I desire the same to be understood as illustrative only and not as limiting said invention. In the drawings annexed hereto andrtorming a part hereof Fig. 1" is a fragmentary vertical section of an installation showing 7 one adaptation of my present. invention; Fig.

is a diagrammatic view, in elevation, showing the threading of the various cables by which the car 1s operated; Fig. 3 1s-a similar view showing the car in another position of use; Fig. 4 'is a similar view showing the car in still another position of use; Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the parts in the same relation as in Fig. 4 except that the bucket carried by the car is in dumping position; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing the relationship of the car, tracks and various cables; Fig. 7" is a plan view of the operating mechanism whereby the the reservoirs and there. is operated by a plurality of cables 1, 2 and 3 passing over suitable guiding sheaves or cables are operated; F ig.-8 is a rear view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7 F i 9 is a longitudinal sectional elevation 1n the planeiof the main shaft of the operating mechanism; Fig. 10 is a vertical transverse section substantially along the plane inclicated by the 1ine'1010, Fig. 7; Fig. 11 1s a vertical transverse sectional view substantially along the plane indicated by the line 11-l1, Fig. 9; Fig. 12 is a somewhat enlarged vertical section of a portion of the apparatus m bucket loading position; Fig.

"13 1s a view similar to Fig.- 12 but showing the car being moved out of loading posinon; and Fig.

14 is a transverse section showing this apparatus in use in conjunction with a plurality of tracks and filling hoppers. a

Reterr ng more 1n detail'to the annexed drawings, R represents a storage reservoir or a plurality ot'such reservoirs in which fragmentary materials are to be stored. Tracks T, T and T serve to carry a car C from its loading position shown in Figs. 1, 12, 13 and 14 to the interior of the storage reservoirswhere the materials are lowered to near the surface of the material already in dumped. The car rollers to the o erating mechanism or hoist H Beneath t e tracks-'5, adaptedto re ce1v e railroad cars, is a loading hopper 6 having in its lower portion a gate 7, the effective opening of which isuregulated by an adjustable member 8. This is operated by a rope or othersuitable adjusting means 9 connected to an actuating mechanism 10. Mounted adjacent the gate 7 is a closure member 11 to which is connectedan operatmg arm or arms 12 carrying a member 13 to be engaged by the bucket 14 of the car C, on its downward trip. As a result of this,-the operating members12 acutate the closure member 11 to open the passage from the loading hopper 6. The materials contained inthis hopper will then move throu a the opening? into-thebucket 14 untilthe same is full. Upon the our C being pulled away from loadlng position theweight 15, through the cable 16 will cause the closure member 11 to turn upon its pivot and close 6. By suitable operation of the hoisting mechanism H, the car will be caused to move up on the track T along the track T and downwardly along one of the tracks T a reservoir R. Here the bucket 14 is turned upon its trunnions by suitable actuation of the cable 3 to cause dumping of the materials in the bucket. The specific construction of the car C is not shown or described herein since the same is fully disclosed in a prior application filed by the present applicant and copending herewith. It is therefore not considered necessary to show this construction in the present application.

Reference will now be made to Figs. 7 to 11 for a complete understanding of the hoisting mechanism, before explaining in further detail the operation of transferring materials from one location to another. In a suitable frame 19 is mounted amain shaft 20 carrying a .pluralty of winding drums 21, 22 and 23, whose operations are controlled by a plurality of clutches 24, 25 and 26, whose functioning is controlled by operating'members 27 28 and 29, as will be clear from a study of Figs. 7, 8 and 9. Operating upon flanges 31 and 32 of drums 21 and 22 are brake b'ands33 and 34 whose functioning is controlled by levers 35 and 36.

Referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, a motor or other source of power, M, drives a gear 37 meshing with a gear 38 upon a shaft 39. The gear 38 in turn meshes with a gear 40 carr ed by a shaft 41. Upon this latter shaft there is loosely mounted a gear 42 which meshes with a gear 43 secured to the shaft 20in any suitable manner, as by a key 44. Rigid with the gear 42 is a drum 45 of clutch 24 by means of which rotation of the shaft41 is transmitted to the gears 42 and 43 and from this to the main driving shaft 20. The drum 21 may either be secured to the gear 43 or the shaft 20 or both as shown in Fig. 9. It will therefore be evident that when the power is a aplied and the clutch 24 is thrown in the ca. le 1 will be wound up onthe drum 21.

As will be seen from Fig. 9, drums 22 and .23'are loose on driving shaft 20, as is also gear 48 which is driven by gear 49 on shaft 39. F romthis it will be seen that when the power is applied to gear 38, shaft 39 will be operated and will drive gear 48 thru gear 49. It will also appear from this that shaft 39 rotates constantly in one direction whenever the motor M is running.

The gear 48' is provided with flanges 50 and 51 to cooperate with flanges on drums 22 and 23 to form the clutches 25 and 26. A plate 52, as shown in Fig. 9, is loosely mounted upon the shaft 20 and presses against the end of drum 22 and its flange 53. Projecting from-the plate 52 are pins '54 which extend 'slidably'through the web 55 of the gear 48. Between the web 55 and the into 7 plate 52 and surrounding the pins 54 are springs 56 which press the plate against the end of the drum 22. A certain amount of friction exists therefore between the plate and the drum 22, together with its flange 53 and tends to cause the rotation of the drum 22 in the same direction that the gear 43 rotates. From this it will appear that the tendency is for the cable 2 to be kept constantly taut and that whenever there is I:

place with drums 21 and 22 or that one maywind and the other unwind.

Resting against the end of drum 23 and its flange 63 is a plate 62 loosely mounted upon the shaft 20. plate 62 are pins 64 which extend through the plate 65 secured to the shaft 20, as by a key 67. Surrounding the pins 64 and exerting tension between the plates 62 and 65 are springs 66. It will appear from this that the normal tendency of drum 23 is to rotate in the same direction as drum 21, since both are driven by the shaft 20. However, if the lever 29 is actuated to throw in the clutch 26, there will be sufficient friction between the flange 51 and its cooperating member of clutch 26 so that this normal' tendency to rotate in one direction may be overcome ilIlCli'OtfltiOIl in the opposite direction be positively caused. It thus appears that drum may be caused to rotate'in the same direction as or in a counter direction to the drum 21. The same is true also with respect to the drum 22. The importance of these various movements will be more apparent hereinafter.

Reference will be made now more particularly to 7 and 11), in the latter of which a pin is shown in section This pin is mounted in one of the cross memh-z irs of the frame 19 and supports oscill'atably the dog 71. This dog 71 is actuated upon its pivot by means of the link 72 connecting it with the handle 7 3. This dog is capable of engaging the teeth 74 upon the inside of flange 31. This can be used to hold the car C at any desired height and prevent the same from moving dowmvardly along the tracks T or T Adjusting means 75 is provided for adjusting the tightness or looscness of the brake band 33 in its-normal-or loose position. A spring 76 engages the lever 35 and Projecting from the llf) iii

secured to one ofthe cross members of the frame. A similar adjusting means 77 is provided in connection with brake band 3%, as shown in Fig; 8. y i

In the application of my inventionshown in Fig. 14; of thedrawings, a plurality of parallel or .substantially parallel tracks 5 pass over a series of loading hoppers b in which the discharge mechanism is the same as that heretofore described except that pro visionis made for getting the cross bars13 out of the'way so that they will not be hit by thecar C, ifit is desired to pass any of the loading hoppers and load from one farther along. any desirable way but shown at the right of this figure as having been accomplished by moving the cross bar 13 up towards the upper end of the levers 12. In this position the cross bar is high enough so that the car in coming down will. pass between the levers 12 and below the crossbar 13, thus passing on to come into contact with the next bar 13 which is near enough the end of the lGVGIIQ.

so that it maybe hit by the top of the bucket, thus causing the member 11 to swing upon its pivot and open the gate 7 for the There is a further slight exit of materials. modification in this construction in that the cable 2 in passing from the car frame goes to a pulley or. roller 78 so that whenthe cable is pulled the car will be moved back under tracks farther away from the hoisting apparatus. Of course, it is obvious that the pulley 78 must be secured near the remote however, be detachable and be niovedfrom one position to another, if desired, when shifting from one loading chamber to another for loading purposes; This is not, however, considered the more desirable'arrangement. 1, Y t

a In Fig. 8, theshaft 39 is shown as extending beyond the gear 38 sufficiently for the attachment of another gear thereon. By moving the motor M farther awayfrom the hoist mechanism, mounting a gear upon the end of the shaft 39 of a size'diiferentfrom gear 38 and then mounting the motor so that gear 37 will mesh with the added gear, the gear ratio may be changedandthe speed of the hoist correspondingly increased or decreased. This is ordinari y may be indulged in where it is thought desirable to have greater lifting power or a more rapidrate of travel. g

In the drawings arrowsare used in connection with certain shafts and gears to indicate the direction of rotation thereof, solid arrows indicating that they rotate continuously while the motor is in operation and dotted arrows that rotation is intermittent.

This invention has been described in con- This may be accomplished in -to throw clutch 21 into engagement.

not necessary but nection with aninstallation for the hoisting of materials, especially coal, but it is to be understood that the same equipment, with 0 pcratio n.

In use the car C is moved to loading position as shown in F gs. 1, 12 and 14 and, in

so doing, thegate 7 is opened permitting the material in the loading hopper (i to be discharged into the bucket 14 until the same is full. Then, with all brakes off and clutches out of engagement, handle 27 is actuated The operation of the motor then causes drum :21 to be turned so that cable 1 is wound up thereon. At the same time, rotation of shaft 2-39 and gears a9 and 48 causes plate 52 to turn in the opposite direction from shaft 20. This causes drum 22 to take up all slack in cable 2 and keep the same constantly taut.

It will be apparent that rotation of the shaft 20 will cause corresponding rotation of plate and,consequently, drum 3. This would cause the unwinding and slackening of cable 3. This can be overcome by actuation ofthe lever 29 which will cause engagement of clutch 26, resulting in the turning of drum 23 in. the opposite direction. cable 3 may be kept taut until the car has passed the hoisting apparatus and then it Will be unnecessary to pay further attention to this cable the same being unwound at the same rate of speed as cable 1 being wound up. During this operation it is unnecessary to pay any attention to cable 2 by reason of the fact thatgear 48 and plate 52 tend to In this way loo keep the same taut'at all times. ,By reason i of the fact that the cable 1 passes to the extreme end of the series of storage reservoirs, it will be possible to pull the car G to any onethereof. By opening a switch in the track T as shown at S in Fig. 1, the car can be permittedto pass downwardly into. any one of the reservoirs. As soon as the car reaches the switch S and starts down- 'wardly thereon, it willbe necessary to apply unwound. This unwindingwill continue as the, car moves downwardly on track '1 into the interior of the reservoir R. When the car has reached a position so that the bucket is nearly in contact with the material already lower the car to loading position. 4

It will be observed that when the cable 3' is being wound up on drum 23 the friction between plate 62 and the end oi? the drum will cause the shalt 20 to rotate in the same direction as the drum, unless clutch 2% is engaged to cause winding of the cable 1. It will be understood that when the car C leaves the track 'l and starts down on the track ll, the weight of the car will carry it to leading position, opening the gate 7 on its way. In a construction such as showirin F ll, be car may be drawn back under the engaging the clutch to wind the cable 2 upon the drum 22. It will be obvious that means should be provided for keeping the car on the track T" when the car is passing down into or up out of a reservoir R. No such means is shown in connection with this application he same will be understood without; further reference thereto. One such means is shown in my copending application referred to above. It will also be understood that any one of several means may be adopted for this purpose.

Attention should perhaps be called to the fact that drum drums 2t and 23 either of these except when drum 23 is clutched to gear l8 so that it runs in the same direction and at the same speed as drum It is believed that the arrangement of the guiding sheaves for the various.

cables will be evident 'l'rom' the drawings 'without being particularly soecilicd herein.

tracks as far as it may be desired by is geared faster than. and so will run taster than a pit into a tower comprising ,a carrier, a carrier track, flexible means for propelling said carrier toward said tower, a second flexible means for lowering said carrier-into said tower to a plurality of predetermined levels, and a third flexible means torunloading said carrier at any of a plurality of predetermined levels within saidtower.

2. A system for conveying material from a pit into a tower comprising a carrier, a carrier track, flexible means for propelling said carrier toward said tower, a second flexible means for lowering said car'ier into said tower to a plurality of predetermined levels, and a third flexible means'ior unloading said carrier at any of a plurality of predetermined levels within said tower and ior raising said carrier out of said tower.

3. A system for conveying material from apit into a plurality of towers comprising a carrier, a carrier track, flexible means for propellingsaid carrier to the-top of each of said towers a second flexible means for lowering said. carrier into any of said towers to a pluralit of predetermined levels,and a third flexi le means for unloading said carrier at any of a plurality of predetermined levels.

l. A system for conveying material from a pit into a plurality of towers comprising a carrier, a carrier track, flexible means for propelling said carrier to the top of each of said towers, a second flexible means for lowering said carrier into any of said towers to a plurality of predetermined levels, and a third flexible means for unloading said carrier at any of a plurality of predetermined levels 'and for raising said carrier out 01 said tower. 5. A system for-conveying material from a pit into a plurality of towers comprising'a carrier, a carrier track, flexible means for propelling said carrier to the top of each of said towers, a second flexible means for lowering said carrier into any of said towers to a plurality of predetermined levels, and a third flexible means fol-unloading said carrier at any of a. plurality of predetermined levels and for raising said carrier out of said tower, all of said means being propellable and controllable from one station.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

CLARENCE A. SCHUBERT. 

